PRINCETON,  N.  J.  '^' 


http://www.archive.org/details/historicalpositiOOhaN 


THE  HISTORICAL  POSITION 


The    Episcopal    Chuech. 


B  paper 


READ  BY  THE 

Rev.   Francis  J/ Hall,   M.A., 

INSTRUCTOR   OF  THEOLOGY  IN  THE  WESTERN  THEOLOGICAL 

SEMINARY,   CHICAGO, 

BEFORE   THE 

CHURCH  HISTORY  CLUB  OF  THE  DIVINITY   SCHOOL  (BAPTIST), 

OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    CHICAGO,   DECEMBER    11, 

1894;  AND  BEFORE  THE  CHICAGO  CLERICUS 

(EPISCOPAL),   DECEMBER  17,  1894. 


Published  under  the  Auspices  of  ti 
Chicago  Clekicus. 


MILWAUKEE,    WIS.: 
THE  YOUNG  CHURCHMAN  CO. 


Copyright  Secured  by  the  Author, 


Dedicated,  by  Permission, 

TO  THE 

Rev.  Eri  B.  Hllbert,  D.D., 

Dean  of  the  DrvTNiTY  School  of  the  University 

OF  Chicago,  whose 

COURTESY,   HEREBY  SHOWN,   IS  THE  MORE 

NOTEWORTHY  BY  REASON 

OF  THE 

DIFFERENCES  OF  CONVICTION 

BETWEEN  US. 


WHAT    DOES    THE    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH 
CLAIM    TO    STAND    FOR    IN    HISTORY  ? 

It  is  with  heartfelt  pleasure  that  I  accept 
the  courteous  invitation  which  you  have  given 
me  to  read  a  paper  before  this  Club,  and  I 
appreciate  your  kindness  the  more  because  I 
understand  that  you  expect  me  to  address  you 
from  the  point  of  view  of  an  Episcopalian. 
It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  a  Club  like  this 
will  agree  with  all  the  beliefs  which  are  likely 
to  be  propounded  by  one  who  speaks  from 
such   a  point  of  view. 

Yet,  if  I  rightly  understand  your  invitation, 
I  am  expected  to  speak  with  entire  candour. 
Gentlemen,  I  appreciate  your  kindness  and 
accept  your  invitation  in  good  faith.  I  shall, 
therefore,  not  shrink  from  plain  speech,  even 
when  touching  upon  tlie  things  wherein  we 
differ,  although,  in  speaking  plainly,  I  trust 
that  I  shall  not  abuse  your  kindness  by  any 
manner  of  utterance  inconsistent  with  the 
Christian  duty  of  speaking  the  truth  in  love. 
The  truth,  my  friends,  is  sacred — not   less  so 


6  THE  HISTORICAL  POSITION  OF 

when  ascertained  than  when  still  being  sought 
after  —  and  should  enslave  our  hearts,  and 
minds,  and  tongues.  Truth  is  mighty  and,  in 
the  end,  Avill  prevail;  so  that,  if  we  would 
think  to  some  purpose,  and  contribute  to  the 
permanent  advance  of  spiritual  intelligence 
and  life,  we  must  conform  our  thoughts  and 
language  to  the  truth,  as  such.  Moreover,  the 
principle  of  love  to  which  I  have  referred 
requires  not  only  that  we  should  conform  to 
the  truth  ivhen  we  speak,  but  that  we  should 
speak — openly  and  persistently — in  the  pres- 
ence of  those  who  are  still  lacking  such  truth 
as  we  have  learned,  until  it  has  become  the 
common  possession  of  mankind.  I  am  sure 
that  you  agree  with  me  here,  and  that  you 
expect  me  to  conform  my  utterances  to  what  I, 
an  Episcopalian,  am  convinced  to  be  the  truth, 
without  reserve  or  fear  of  causing  offence. 

I  purpose  this  evening  to  answer,  as  well  as 
I  can,  this  question:  What  does  the  Episcopal 
Church  claim  to  stand  for  in  hi  story  9 

My  aim  is  chiefly  expository,  and  I  shall 
endeavour  to  avoid  a  polemical  tone;  although 
I  cannot  promise  to  assume  the  indifferent  tone 
of  one  who  has  no  interest  in  the  questions  at 


THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 


issue.  I  am  sure  you  do  not  expect  this.  I 
shall  deal  with  arguments,  but  in  their  histori- 
cal aspects,  and  for  the  purpose  of  exhibiting 
more  clearly  the  nature  of  the  Episcopal  posi- 
tion, and  of  obviating  certain  misapprehen- 
sions concerning  it. 

To  enter  at  once  in  medias  res,  The  Episco- 
pal Church  claims  to  stand  in  history  for  three 
things:  (a)  for  the  original  of  the  Christian 
religion;  {h)  for  that  which  it  has,  as  a  matter 
of  history,  received  in  trust,  and  therefore  may 
not  lawfully  compromise  or  surrender;  (c)  for 
the  only  possible  basis  of  Church  Unity. 


In  the  first  place,  then,  the  Episcopal  Church 
claims  to  stand  for  the  original  of  the  Chris- 
tian Religion. 

The  true  idea  of  religion,  as  it  appears  in 
history — and  Sacred  History  is  none  the  less 
history,  because  it  is  given  chiefly  in  the  Bible 
— is  that  of  a  bond  or  covenant  between  God 
and  man ;  along  with  whatever  pertains  to  such 
a  covenant,  of  truth,  institutions  and  life.  It 
is  thus,  I  am  sure,  that  Sacred  as  well  as  Eccle- 


8  THE  HISTORICAL  POSITION  OF 

siastical  history  exhibits  religion  to  us.  The 
Greek  word  diaSjjH?/,  Avhich  is  usually  translated 
testament,  is  more  accurately  translated  cove- 
nant; and  the  entire  Bible  is  concerned  with 
the  Old  Covenant  or  Hebrew  Religion,  and  the 
New  Covenant  or  Christian  Religion.  This 
does  not  mean  that  these  two  are  different 
religions,  but  that  they  are  two  dispensations 
of  one  and  the  same  religion,  which  are  neces- 
sarily in  harmony  with  each  other  and  governed 
in  common  by  certain  principles  which  are 
permanent  and  unalterable,  since  they  proceed 
from  one  God,  with  Whom  is  no  variableness 
neither  shadow  of  turning^  The  law  is  a 
schoolmaster  to  bring  us  unto  Christ^;  and,  as 
S.  Augustine  said  long  ago,  the  New  Testa- 
ment is  latent  in  the  Old,  and  the  Old  is  un- 
veiled iu  the  Newl  It  is,  therefore,  a  mistake 
to  oppose  one  dispensation  to  the  other,  for 
they  are  but  successive  Divine  arrangements 
in  one  covenant  of  promise  made  of  old  with 
the  patriarchs.  The  Christian  dispensation  is 
indeed  more  spiritual,  but  this  does  not  mean 
that  the  old  religion  has  been  revolutionized, 
so  as  to  become  indeterminate,  unrecognizable 

1.    S.  Jas.  1. 17.       2.    Gal.  III.  24.      3.    Quest,  in  Ex.  Q.  73. 


THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 


and  without  visible  ministries  or  means  of  open 
maintenance  before  the  world  and  of  corporate 
life.  It  means  rather  that  the  inner  and  spir- 
itual significance  of  God's  covenant  has  been 
unveiled  in  its  fulfilment  by  Christ;  and  that, 
in  consequence  of  Christ's  work  and  ordinance, 
the  ancient  forms,  which  were  without  power\ 
have  been  reconstituted  and  given  spiritual 
efficacy  and  world-wide  application.  The  re- 
ligion of  Christ  is  the  religion  of  Abraham 
and  of  Moses;  and,  like  its  Author,  is  the 
same  yesterday,  to-day,   and  forever'^ 

If  this  original  and  everlasting  religion  of 
God  is  to  be  identified,  it  must  be  by  means  of 
such  characteristics  as  were  of  Divine  origin  in 
the  beginning,  and  which  have  been  permanent, 
being  provided  for  by  God  in  every  successive 
dispensation.  I  think  that  three  such  charac- 
teristics can  be  distinguished  historically  with- 
out difficulty.  I  will  try  to  exhibit  them  in  due 
order. 

(a)  The  first  of  them,  appearing  in  both  the 
Hebrew  and  Christian  dispensations,  and,  there- 
fore, characterizing  the  original  Christian  relig- 

1.  Heb.  VIIT.  7-13:  X.  1,11. 

2.  Heb.  XIII.  8. 


10  THE  HISTORICAL  POSITION  OF 

ion,  is  the  existence  of  one  visible  organism^  or 
chosen  people,  with  whom  the  Covenant  is 
made,  and  which  possesses  a  determinate  organ- 
ization or  Ministry  of  Divine  origin,  ordained 
for  the  publication  and  continual  maintenance 
o£  the  Covenant. 

The  subject  of  the  Divine  covenants  is 
referred  to  in  a  multitude  of  passages  in  both 
portions  of  Holy  Scripture,  but  nowhere  do  we 
find  that  the  human  oartv  thereto  is  an  indi- 
vidual  soul  as  such.  The  Hebrew  Covenant 
was  made  with  Abraham  and  his  seed  forever^ 
— ^not  with  Abraham  in  isolation  from  his  seed 
— and  the  New  Covenant  is  but  a  continuation 
of  the  Old  in  a  more  effectual  and  Catholic  dis- 
pensationl  The  human  party  to  the  covenant 
is  still  the  seed  of  Abraham,  but  a  sacramental 
seed,  buried  by  Baptism  in  Christ,  Who  is  at 
once  the  seed  of  Abraham  and  the  Son  of  God, 
the  one  Mediator  between  God  and  man*.  The 
seed  which  was  Jewish  and  had  Circumcision 
for  its  sign,  becomes  Christian  (without  loss  of 

1.  See  App.  I. 

2.  Gen.  XVII,  7;  S.  Luke  I.  55. 

3.  Gen.  XXIII.  18;  Isaiah  LIV.l-3;  LVI.3-7;  Jerem. XXXI. 31-34; 
Mai.  1. 11. 

4.  Gal.  III.  IG,  27-29;  S.  Luke  III.  8;  I.  Tim.  II.  5. 


THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  11 

continuity)  and  has  Baptism  for  its  sign^  The 
original  chosen  people  is  merged  into  the 
Christian  Church  ;  which  is  the  Body  of  Christ^, 
and  to  which  all  individual  souls  are  added 
daily  by  Baptism  who  are  being  saved  by  God  . 
In  short  the  ancient  Covenant  has  now  for  its 
human  party  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  for  its 
covenanted  beneficiaries  all  those  who  are  bap- 
tized into  that  Church  and  conform  therein  to 
the  terms  of  the  Covenant. 

It  might  naturally  have  beeu  anticipated  that 
when  God  called  His  chosen  and  made  them  a 
peculiar  people,  He  would  ordain  some  visible 
organization  of  that  people  for  the  sure  main- 
tenance of  the  Covenant  and  an  abiding  evidence 
of  its  continuance.  The  Episcopal  Church  con- 
tends that  He  did  this;  and  we  regard  the  pa- 
triarchal, the  Aaronic,  and  the  Episcopal  Min- 
istries as  the  successive  centres  of  the  orofani- 
zatious  into  which  God  Himself  has  moulded 
His  chosen  race.  It  was  God  who  formed  the 
earthly  society  with  which  He  made  His  Cov- 
enant^; and  therefore  it  was  God  who  deter- 
mined for  each  successive  dispensation  in  what 

1.    Gen.  XVII.  9-11;  Heb.X.  16,  22.  2.    Eplies.II.ll-22. 

3.     Ephes.  I.  22,  23;  V.  28-30;  Ac::s  XII.  27.      4.     Acts  11.47. 
5.    Isaiah  XLIII.  l,  21;  XLIV.  2;  S.  Matt.  XVI.  18. 


12  TBE  HISTORICAL  POSITION  OF 

maiiDer  and  by  what  sort  of  Ministry  it  should 
perform  the  corporate  terms  of  the  Covenant. 
God  has  altered  the  form  of  this  Ministry  in 
each  succeeding  dispensation.  But  He  has" 
never  surrendered  the  prerogative  of  making 
such  alterations  Himself^ 

Accordingly,  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  insti- 
tuted a  parpetual  Ministry  for  His  church, 
which  He  built  upon  the  Apostles  and  Prophets 
with  Himself  for  its  chief  Corner  Stone,  to  rest 
upon  that  foundation  through  all  time^.  And, 
as  Clement  of  Rome  says,  writing  four  or  five 
years  before  the  death  of  S.  John  the  Divine, 
"Our  Apostles  knew  through  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  that  there  would  be  strife  over  the  name 
of  the  Bishop's  office.  For  this  cause  therefore, 
having  received  complete  foreknowledge,  they 
appointed  the  aforesaid  persons,  and  afterward 
they  provided  a  continuance,  that  if  these  should 
fall  asleep,  other  approved  men  should  succeed 
to  their  ministration^" 

Examples  of  this  action  of  the  Apostles  may  be 
seen  in  Timothy,  appointed  over  the  Church  of 
Ephesus,  and   Titus,   appointed    over    that    of 

1.  Heb.  VII.  11-28;  Numb.  XVI. 

2.  S.  Jolm  XX:.  21;  Acts  XII.  28;  Eplies.  11,20-22;  Heb.  V.  4. 

3.  Clem,  ad  Cor.  c.  44,  Lightfoot's  transl. 


THE  EPISCOPAL  CUURGR,  .  13 

Crete;  and  it  is  immaterial  to  our  contention 
whether  the  first  successors  of  the  Apostles 
were  called  Bishops,  or  Presbyters,  or  both. 
What  we  claim  is,  that,  in  auj  case,  the  Apos- 
tolic Ministry  was  transmitted,  and  that  no  one 
can  now  exercise  that  ministry  lawfully  except 
those  who  have  received  the  authority  to  do  so 
by  actual  and  unbroken  transmission  from  the 
Apostles,  who  were  originally  appointed  and 
ordained  by  Jesus  Christ.  This  is  the  Apos- 
tolic Succession;  and  the  phrase  "Historic 
Episcoj)ate"  is  used  because  we  are  sure  that, 
as  a  matter  of  history,  what  is  now  called  the 
Episcopate,  and  still  possessed  by  three-fourths 
of  the  Christian  world,  is  the  identical  Ministry 
which  the  Apostles  ordained,  in  accordance 
with  the  Commission  of  Christ,  to  perpetuate 
their  own  Ministry,  for  the  benefit  of  future 
generations,  until  the  end  of  the  world. 

I  do  not,  of  course,  mean  that  all  the  powers 
of  the  Apostles  were  handed  on,  but  the  powers 
of  the  Ministry,  of  tliat  Ministry  which  Christ 
promised  to  be  with  to  the  end  of  days,  of 
which  they  were  the  first  trustees.  Their  mi- 
raculous powers,  as  distinguished  from  those 
strictly  Ministerial,  were,  of  course,  an  accident 


14  THE  HISTORICAL  POSITION  OF 

of  their  time  aud  of  their  unique  Avork  of  laying 
foundations;  and  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  such 
powers  were  not,  as  in  case  of  their  Ministerial 
ones,  confined  to  those  ordained  to  the  Min- 
istry\ 

The  limitations  under  which  I  speak  forbid 
that  I  should  exhibit  in  detail  the  large  body 
of  historical  argument  by  which  this  position  is 
sustained'^.  I  must  content  myself  with  saying, 
first,  that  Ignatius  of  Antioch,  writing,  as 
Lightfoot  contends,  about  ten  years  after  the 
death  of  S.  John^,  identifies  the  successors  of 
the  Apostles  with  the  Episcopoi  then  ruling  the 
Church^,  and  asserts  that  no  ecclesiastical  organ- 
ism was  complete  without  them^  No  care- 
ful student  will  hesitate  to  agree  that  the 
order  to  which  he  referred  under  the  name 
Episcopoi  is  historically  one  with  that  now- 
called  by  the  same  name.  Moreover,  complete 
lists  of  the  successors  of  the  Apostles  in  cer- 
tain Apostolic  sees,  acknowledged  in  their  day 
to  be  the  Divinely  ordained  means  by  which  the 
Apostolic  Ministry  was  to  be  perpetuated,  are 
preserved  in  the  writings   of  S.   Irenseus  and 

1.    Acts  XXI.  9;  I  Cor.  XII.  28-30.  2.    See  App.  I. 

3.    Apos.  Fathers,  Part  II.,  Vol  1.  30.    4.    AdPliilad.  Introd.,  etc, 

5.    Ad  Tral.  3, 


THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  15 

others^  It  is  easy  to  show  historically  that 
these  lines  are  but  the  earlier  tranks  of  the 
many  branches  of  Episcopal  succession,  now 
existing  throughout  the  Catholic  Church. 
Finally  it  is  a  fact,  clear  to  the  most  superficial 
student  of  Church  history,  that  it  was  not  the 
custom  in  the  ages  preceding  the  Reformation 
to  confer  Apostolic  authority  on  any  save  those 
who  were  named  Bishops.  Therefore  if  there 
is  an  Apostolic  succession  such  as  I  have 
defined,  the  Historic  Episcopate  alone  possesses 
it. 

(5)  A  second  original  and  permanent  note 
of  true  religion  is  the  possession  hij  God's 
chosen  people  of  a  traditional  body  of  truth, 
revealed  by  God  and  intrusted  to  its  Ministry 
to  be  preserved  from  generation  to  generation, 
for  the  guidance  of  all  who  are  called  of  God 
to  share  in  the  benefits  of  His  Covenant.  In 
ancient  times  God  gave  Israel  a  law  which  He 
commanded  our  spiritual  "  forefathers  to  teach 
their  children,  that  their  posterity  might  know 
it,  and  the  children  which  were  yet  unborn,  to 
the  intent  that  when  they  came  up,  they  might 

1.    cf .  Gore  on  the  Ministry,  ch.  Ill, 


16  THE  HISTORICAL  POSITION  OF 

show  their  children  the  same\"  And,  in  the 
fulness  of  time,  our  Lord  fulfilled  this  law, 
revealed  the  principles  of  truth  and  righteous- 
ness which  lay  behind  it,  and  commissioned 
His  Apostles  to  disciple  all  nations,  promising 
that  He  would  be  with  them  in  this  work  until 
the  end  of  the  workP,  and  that  the  Holy  Ghost 
should  guide  them  into  all  truthl  This  prom- 
ise, because  of  its  perpetual  nature,  applies  to 
the  successors  of  the  Apostles.  We  are  com- 
manded to  hear  the  Church^,  and  are  told  by 
S.  Paul  that  the  Church  is  the  pillar  and 
ground  of  the  truths  Against  this  Church 
the  gates  of  hell  are  not  to  prevaiP,  whatever 
individual  unfaithfulness  may  be  displayed  at 
times  by  some,  or  many,  or  even  by  a  majority 
of  its  Ministers, 

It  is  not  claimed  that  the  earthly  portion  of 
the  Catholic  Church  succeeds  in  making  the 
Faith  once  for  all  delivered  to  the  Saints  so 
clear  as  to  be  unmistakable  by  any,  nor  that 

1.  Psa.  LXXVIII.  5-7.    Prayer  Book  Version:  cf,  S.  Matt. 
XXIII.  2,  3. 

2.  S.  Matt.  XXVIII.  19,  20;  X.  23. 

3.  S.  John  XIV.  2G;  XVI.  13, 14. 

4.  S.  Matt.  X.  40;  XVIII.  17   (Cf.  XXIII.  2,  3). 

5.  I.  Tim,  III.  15. 

6.  S.  Matt.  XVI.  18, 


THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  17 

the  Church  can  answer  every  speculative  ques- 
tion which  the  progress  of  science  may  sug- 
gest. That  would  indeed  be  a  claim  both 
unhistoric  and  unreasonable.  God  nowhere 
on  earth  so  unveils  the  truth  that  we  may  per- 
ceive its  contents  without  effort  or  liability  to 
err^  Certainly,  if  the  doctrinal  differences 
between  Protestant  deoomiuations  mean  any- 
thing, He  does  not  do  this  by  means  of  the 
Bible  only,  in  isolation  from  the  Church  whose 
Canon  of  Scripture  it  is. 

No,  my  friends,  what  we  claim  is,  that  God 
has,  as  a  matter  of  history,  made  His  Apostolic 
Church  and  Ministry  the  perpetual  means  of 
so  preserving  His  saving  truth  in  the  world, 
that  no  one  who  fully  conforms  to  the  terms  of 
the  New  Covenant  as  published  and  fulfilled  by 
her—/,  e.,  gives  implicit  assent  to  those  Creeds 
which  have  her  undivided  and  corporate  sanc- 
tion, devoutly  studies  the  Bible  which  she 
furnishes  as  God's  Word  from  her  point  of 
view,  and  heartily  enters  into  the  privileges  of 
her  sacramental  life  and  environment — can  fail 
to  attain  to  the  knowledge  of  such  truth  as  is 
needed    for    his  advance  in   holiness   and  his 

1.    I.  Cor.  XIII.  8-12. 


18  THE  HISTORICAL  POSITION  OF 

eternal  glory  hereafter.  We  claim  further, 
that  such  security  neither  exists  nor  can  exist 
elsewhere  in  the  world.  The  One,  Holy,  Cath- 
olic and  Apostolic  Church,  with  its  Divine  and 
therefore  unalterable  Ministry,  now  called 
Episcopal,  is  the  only  thing  on  earth  which 
Holy  Scripture  calls  the  pillar  and  ground  of 
the  truth,  and  which  has  Christ's  solemn  pledge 
of  infallibility^  Individuals  may  err,  Bishops 
may  err,  councils  may  err^;  but,  if  they  do, 
the  abiding  life  and  institutions  of  the  Cliurch 
make  it  clear  to  the  faithful,  ere  long,  that 
such  errors  do  not  represent  her  mind.  That 
mind  is  organic  and  can  neither  be  altered  nor 
permanently  changed  by  majorities  or  passing 
schools  of  thought. 

I  do  not  forget  that  I  am  concerned  with 
what  is  historic  rather  than  with  what  is  theo- 
retical, and  therefore  call  your  attention  to  two 
significant  facts,  in  order  to  make  clear  what  I 
mean.  The  first  of  these  is  the  fact  that 
neither  any  individual  nor  any  school  of 
thought  has  ever  changed  or  added  to  the 
faith  of  the  Catholic  Church.      An  Athanasius 

1.  I.  Tim.  III.  15;    S.  Matt.  XVI.  18. 

2.  39  Arts.  XXI.,  Eng.  Prayer  Book, 


THE  EPISCOPAL  CnURCH.  19 

and  a  Cyril  in  the  East,  au  Augustine  and  a 
Leo  in  the  West,  a  Hooker  and  a  Pusey  in  the 
Anglican  Communion,  may  have  done  much  to 
vindicate  certain  ancient  doctrines.  But  no 
theologian  or  school  has  been  able  to  impose 
new  doctrines  upon  either  of  the  portions  of 
the  Catholic  Church  which  I  have  mentioned, 
or  modify  Catholic  teaching.  The  Lutherans 
appeal  to  Luther  and  Melancthon,  the  Calvin- 
ists  to  John  Calvin,  the  Methodists  to  John 
Wesley.  We  appeal  simply  to  the  Faith  once 
for  all  delivered  to  the  Saints,  as  contained  in 
the  Scriptures,  summed  up  in  the  Creeds,  and 
affirmed  by  the  undisputed  general  councils^ 

The  second  fact  is  the  unity  of  faith  which  has 
prevailed  and  continues  to  exist  throughout  the 
Catholic  Church.  The  controversies  which 
have  separated  the  Greek,  Latin,  and  Anglican 
communions  for  so  many  ages  are  indeed 
deplorable  ;  but  their  very  seriousness  is  our 
reason  for  marvelling  at  the  range  of  agree- 
ment in  Faith,  which  has  survived  them  all, 
and  for  believins^  it  to  be  suuerhuman.      The 

O  J. 

Greek  regards  the  insertion  of  the  filioque  into 
the  Nicene  Creed  as  unlawful,  and  misconceives 

1,    Larabetli  Conference,  1878,  Introd.  to  Resolutions, 


20  THE  HISTORICAL  POSIT  I  OX  OF 

its  meaning;  but  the  doctrine  which  that 
phrase  is  really  designed  to  protect  is  held  in 
the  East  as  well  as  in  the  West  The  Angli- 
can complains  of  the  exaggerated  claims  of  the 
Roman  see,  and  of  the  modern  theories  and 
superstitious  abuses  which  are  cherished  under 
the  Roman  obedience;  but  he  perceives  with 
thankfulness  that,  however  much  the  Romanist 
may  have  surrounded  it  with  inferior  matter, 
he  still  cherishes  in  its  fulness  that  original 
Faith  which  Anglicans  cherish  and  for  which  the 
ancient  martyrs  died.  Alienation  exists,  anath- 
emas have  been  pronounced — although  the 
xlnglican  Communion  has  hurled  none — fright- 
ful misconceptions  prevail,  the  differences  in 
circumstances  are  radical;  yet,  in  every  land 
and  in  every  language.  Catholic  Christendom 
holds  the  same  Faith,  cherishes  one  sacra- 
mental system  and  one  sacerdotal  Ministry, 
approaches  the  Almighty  with  one  liturgic 
service  and  unbloody  Sacrifice,  which  is  every- 
where the  same  in  its  constituent  parts  and 
meaning,  whatever  variations  of  phraseology 
may  be  employed.  The  sun  sets  not  upon 
those  who  hold  the  Catholic  Faith  in  its  en- 
tirety.     We  believe  that  a  unity  like  this,  sur- 


THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  21 

viving,  as  it  has,  the  loss  of  charity,  is  beyond 
man's  power  of  achievement;  and  that  it  is  the 
fulfihnent  of  Christ's  promise  to  be  with  His 
Apostolic  Ministry  to  the  end  of  days. 

No  such  unity  exists  elsewhere,  certainly 
not  in  the  Protestant  world.  The  Protestant 
denominations  exchange  polite  speeches.  There 
are  Evangelical  Alliances,  interchanges  of  pul- 
pits, Y.  M.  C.  A.s,  societies  of  Christian  En- 
deavour, etc.  But,  with  every  effort  to  minimize 
differences,  the  Protestant  world  does  differ 
radically  as  to  those  primary  verities  and  min- 
istries of  grace  with  which  the  Christian  relig- 
ion began  to  be.  It  has  been  pointed  out 
that  each  doctrine  of  the  Faith  once  for  all 
delivered  is  denied  by  some  Protestant  body, 
and  that  that  thing  which  Protestants  call 
*'our  common  Christianity"  is  absolutely  unde- 
finable — a  vanishing  point.  Even  what  Mr. 
Gladstone  has  recently  called  the  essence  of 
Christianity — the  doctrines  of  the  Trinity  and 
the  Incarnation^ — is  being  dissolved  in  many  di- 
rections under  the  miasmic influence  of  rational- 
ism, and  a  thinly  disguised  Pantheism,  which 
can  subscribe  to  Christian  formularies  in  pagan 

1.    Ninetenth  Century,  Aug.  1894. 


22  THE  HISTORICAL  POSITION  OF 

senses.  The  present  Socinian  body  in  England 
is  the  same  with  the  original  Presbyterian 
denomination  in  that  country.  Multitudes  of 
Protestants  are  losiug  faith  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, especially  in  the  presence  of  Higher 
Criticism,  and  few  Protestants  feel  at  home  in 
the  Old  Testament  or  have  auy  large  use  for 
it\  "The  down-grade  of  Protestantism"  is 
too  apparent  to  escape  notice,  as  the  late  Mr. 
Spurgeon  recognized  to  his  grief.     These  facts 

—  Catholic  consent  and  disagreement  else- 
where— convince  us  that  what  is  nicknamed 
"ecclesiasticism,"  and  misunderstood  by  many 
because  of  that  misleading  phrase,  is  the 
primary  historical  means  whereby  God  wills  to 
preserve  His  truth  in  the  world  and  save  the 
souls  whom  Christ  has  redeemed. 

(c)  The  third  original  and  permanent  char- 
acteristic of  the  Divine  Covenants  and  of  true 
religion  is  the  maintenance  among  the  chosen 
people  of  certain  visible  rites  ordained  of  God^ 

—  especially  the  rites  of  admission  to  the 
chosen  people  and  Covenant,  and  those  of  cor- 
porate approach  to  God  and  communion  with 
Him. 

1.    See  App.  II.  2.    See  App.  I. 


TUE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  23 

Thus  Circumcision  aud  Baptism  ai'e  the 
respective  rites  by  which  God  ordained  that 
men  should  be  admitted  into  the  Jewish  and 
Christian  Covenants.  They  are  for  that  reason 
correlative.  This  is  shown  conclusively  in  the 
Epistle  to  the  Colossians,  second  chapter^  and 
the  whole  argument  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Gal- 
atians  shows  the  same  truth,  in  which  the 
leadinof  thouo:ht  is  that,  whereas  in  the  Old 
Covenant  Circumcision  was  necessary  for  initi- 
ation, "in  Christ  Jesus  neither  Circumcision 
availeth  anything,  nor  uncircumcision,  but  a 
new  creature'"' — a  plain  allusion  to  the  new 
birth  of  water  and  of  the  Spirit,  mentioned  by 
Christ  to  Nicodemus  as  necessary  for  entrance 
into  His  Kingdom^  Circumcision  signified 
those  who  were  of  Abraham's  seed.  Baptism 
makes  us  also  of  that  seed  by  our  putting  on 
Christ*;  and  a  new  life  is  thus  imparted  to  us 
which,  if  fostered,  will  finally  abolish  the  whole 
body  of  sin.  Thus  the  accompanying  effects 
of  Baptism  exceed  those  of  Circumcision, 
which  Avas  only  a  sign.  Yet,  while  Baptism 
causes  an  internal  and  organic  relation  between 
the  soul  and  Christ's  body^,  and  is   an  instru- 

1.    Col.  II.  11,12.  2.    Gal.  VI.  15. 

3.     S.  Jolin  III.  5.  4.     Gal.  III.  24-29;  Col.  II.  11,  12. 

5.     Ephes.V.  26.30. 


24  THE  HISTORICAL  POSITION  OF 

ment  by  means  of  which  the  Holy  Ghost  puts 
us  in  a  siate  of  grace  and  salvation  and  begins 
His  sanctifying  operations  in  us ;  it  is  neither 
the  means  nor  the  sign  of  completed  salvation. 

Both  rites,  being  initiatory,  were  ordained 
for  children.  Every  Hebrew  boy  was  circum- 
cised when  eight  days  old,  and  Christ  signifi- 
cantly declared  concerning  little  children  that 
of  such — i.  e.,  of  such  sources — ^is  the  Kingdom 
of  Heaven.  The  idea  that  He  meant  that  little 
children  are  members  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven  hy  nature  is  distinctly  modern. 

The  new  Testament,  when  isolated  from  the 
historic  institutions  and  usaores  of  that  Kinor- 
dom  of  God  which  put  it  forth,  and  treated  as 
if  it  were  in  itself  a  complete  thesaurus  of 
formulated  answers  to  all  religious  questions, 
has  of  course  a  different  meaning  from  what  it 
has  when  regarded  in  its  ancient  light  as  the 
Church's  Canon  of  Scripture,  set  forth  by  her 
as  inspired  by  the  same  Spirit  who  was  guiding 
her  Apostolic  Ministry  into  all  truth,  in  order 
that  it  might  strengthen  the  hold  of  the  faith- 
ful upon  that  body  of  truth  which  they  had 
received  through  her. 

When  the  Church  began  to  settle  her  Canon, 


THE  EPISCOPAL  ClIUUGU.  25 

Id  ante-Nicene  days,  she  was  baptizing  infants; 
and  the  absence  of  any  explicit  mention  of  the 
circumstance  in  Holy  Scripture  signifies  noth- 
inof,  unless  we  are  to  assume  unhistoric  aground 
and  make  Holy  Scripture  the  original  and  com- 
plete source  of  all  the  Church's  usages.  I 
have  said  that  the  Episcopal  Church  claims  to 
stand  for  the  original  of  the  Christian  Relig- 
ion. That  original  antedates  the  New  Testa- 
ment Scriptures,  and  is  only  described  in  detail 
therein  with  reference  to  matters  which  had 
come  into  controversy  or  were  liable  to  neglect. 
The  analogy  of  Circumcision,  for  which  Bap- 
tism is  the  Christian  correlative,  creates  a  pre- 
sumption in  favor  of  infant  Baptism,  which  can 
only  be  overcome  by  the  discovery  of  its  posi- 
tive prohibition  by  God.  Certainly  no  such 
prohibition  is  found  in  the  New  Testament. 
The  requirement  of  faith  and  repentance  be- 
fore the  Baptism  of  adult  converts^ — and  no 
other  such  requirement  can  be  proved  from 
Holy  Scripture — does  not  bear  on  the  point  in 
the  slightest  degree,  for  a  similar  requirement 
of  conversion  to  the  Jewish  religion  was  made 
of  adult  applicants  for  Circumcisionl     So  that 

1.     Acts  II.  38;  YII,  36-38.  2.    Kom.  IV.  10,  11. 


26  THE  HISTORICAL  POSITION  OF 

the  argument  which  is  used  to  justify  an  inva- 
riable postponement  of  Baptism  until  the  years 
of  discretion  would  have  been  equally  available 
to  justify  a  similar  postponement  of  Circum- 
cision. But  such  postponement  was  expressly 
forbidden  by  God^ 

Our  position  would  be  better  understood — and 
my  whole  argument  is  for  the  purpose  of  mak- 
ing our  position  more  clear — if  regeneration 
were  not  so  often  confounded  with  conversion. 
They  are  very  different.  Conversion  is  a  change 
in  our  moral  aims.  Regeneration,  which  Bap- 
tism achieves,  is  the  inauguration  of  a  new, 
objective,  vital  and  internal  relation  to  Christ's 
Body, and  does  not  necessarily  coincide  with  con- 
version or  signify  that  it  has  taken  place.  The 
Apostles  naturally  required  that  conversion 
should  precede  Baptism  of  adults,  lest  unbelief 
and  unrepented  acts  of  sin  should  make  the  re- 
ception of  supernatural  life  both  useless  and  dan- 
gerous. But  no  such  barrier  exists  in  the  case 
of  infants;  and  under  ideal  conditions  infant 
Baptism  frequently  obviates  the  need  of  con- 
version by  forestalling  the  growth  of  an  anti- 
Christian  disposition. 

1.    Gen.  XVII.  12  . 


THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 


Ill  addition  to  these  initiatory  rites,  God 
instituted  in  each  Covenant  the  visible  manner 
in  which  and  the  means  bj  which  His  chosen 
people  were  to  approach  Him  with  sacrificial 
homage  or  worship,  and  enter  into  Communion 
with  Him.  In  the  Mosaic  Covenant  three 
national  Sacrifices  were  instituted,  which  were 
so  many  memorials  beforehand,  typifying  in 
outline  what  Christ  was  to  achieve  in  His  great 
Sacrifice,  consummated  once  for  all  on  Calvary 
and  perpetually  offered  in  the  Holy  Place  made 
without  hands.  These  Sacrifices  were  ordained 
by  God^  They  were  not  actual  means  of  grace, 
nor  did  they  effect  what  they  figured,  but  were 
none  the  less  signs  of  what  God  promised  that 
the  Messias  should  fulfil,  in  due  season,  for 
those  who  humbly  offered  them  with  faithl 

When  Christ  was  about  to  suffer  and  fulfil 
these  sacrificial  promises  so  as  to  become  our 
perpetual  High  Priest  and  Intercessor,  He 
instituted  one  spiritual  and  effective  rite  which 
should  occupy  the  same  relative  place  in  the 
dispensation  of  grace  which  was  occupied  by 
them  in  the  Covenant  of  promise.  I  mean  the 
Holy    Eucharist.       This    rite     signifies     and 

1.    Levit.  I-VII,  XVI;  Heb.  IX.  2.    Heb.  IX.  6-14;  X.  1-18. 


28  THE  HISTORICAL  POSITION  OF 

enables  its  participauts  to  JoId  in  the  offering 
up  of  that  full,  perfect  and  sufficient  Sacrifice 
which  Christ  achieved  once  for  all  on  Calvary, 
but  is  offering  forever  in  heaven  on  our  behalf^ 
And  it  effects  what  the  rites  which  it  displaces 
only  figured,  for  by  means  of  it  we  truly  unite 
under  earthly  conditions  with  what  Christ  is 
doing  in  heaven,  and  offer  that  pure  offering 
which  Malachi  predicted  would  be  offered 
throughout  the  gentile  workP.  The  Euchar- 
istic  bread  and  wine,  as  Justin  Martyr  said  in 
the  middle  of  the  second  century,  "  we  do  not 
receive  as  common  bread  and  common  drink, 
.  .  .  but  have  been  taught  that  the  food  which 
has  been  blessed  by  the  prayer  of  His  Word  .  .  . 
is  the  Flesh  and  Blood  of  Jesus  Who  was  made 
Flesh^."  Thus  we  offer  up  Jesus  Christ  Him- 
self, the  Lamb  slain  from  the  foundation  of  the 
world  but  now  alive  forever more'^,  feeding  at 
the  same  time  on  the  Bread  which  came  down 
from  heaven,  in  accordance  with  the  words  of 
Christ,  Who  said  "  except  ye  eat  the  Flesh  of  the 
Son  of  Man  and  drink  His  Blood  ye  have  no 
life  in  you^"      Thus  the  Holy  Eucharist  is  our 

1.     Heb.  IX.  24-28.  2.     Mai.  I.ll. 

:<.    S.  Justin  M.,  I.  Apol.  c.  gg.    4.    Kom.  VI.  9, 10;  Kev.  XIII.  8. 

5.     S.  Johu.  VI.  50-58. 


THE  EPISCOPAL  CIIURCn.  29 

spiritual  Sacrifice,  whereby  we  participate  in 
the  one  Sacrifice  of  Christ  which  can  never  be 
repeated  or  exhausted.  It  is  not  a  repetition 
of  the  transaction  of  Calvary,  but  a  memorial 
of  it^ — the  same  memorial  which  Christ  is 
making  in  heaven,  where  He  perpetually  offers 
Himself  and  exhibits  those  glorious  wounds 
which  are  the  enduring  evidence  of  His  meri- 
torious passion  endured  once  for  alP.  Because 
the  Holy  Eucharist  is  a  memorial  and  the  offer- 
ing up  of  a  real  gift — the  living  and  impassible 
Body  and  Blood  of  Him  who  suffered — it  is  a 
true  and  proper  Sacrifice,  although  only  such 
because  Christ  is  its  Offerer  and  the  thing 
offered^ 

The  Holy  Eucharist  is  also  our  greatest  Sac- 
rament, by  means  of  which  we  receive  the  ben- 
efits of  Christ's  death  and  "feed  on  Him  in  [our] 
hearts,  by  faith,  with  thanksgiving."  It  is  the 
visible  centre  of  Catholic  life  and  unity;  the 
Christian  shekinah  and  place  of  our  closest 
access  to  the  Father  through  Christ;  the  ladder 
set  up  to  heaven  on  earth — ordained  as  the 
means  whereby  we  may  take  the  fullest  advantage 

1.  S.  Luke  XXIT.  19;  I  Cor.  XI.  24-26;  Heb.  IX.  24-2G. 

2.  Rom.  YIII.  34;  I  Tim.  II.  5;  Heb.  VII. 24,  25;  Zech.  XIII.  6, 

3.  See  App.  I. 


30  THE  lIlSTOniGAL  POSITION  OF 

of  Christ's  Mediation   and  enter  through  the 
veil  of  His  Flesh  into  the  Holy  Place ^. 

Yes,  gentlemen,  we  claim  ours  to  be  the 
original  Christian  Religion — in  fact  the 
divinely  instituted  and  divinely  perfected  relig- 
ion of  all  the  ages  gone  by;  that  which  Patri- 
archs and  Holy  Prophets  loved;  that  which 
God  in  Flesh  obeyed,  fulfilled  and  renewed 
with  quickening  power,  but  with  unaltered  and 
unalterable  outlines  and  principles:  that  for 
which  the  Martyrs  bled  and  the  Fathers 
pleaded:  which  has  persisted  with  unbroken 
life  through  every  peril  which  Satan  could 
devise;  and  which  now  reigns  supreme  in  the 
hearts  of  countless  multitudes  of  every  nation, 
who  obey  Jesus  Christ  under  one  Apostolic 
Ministry,  believe  one  universal  Faith,  and,  in 
every  tongue  on  earth,  approach  their  God  in 
one  Eucharistic  Sacrifice,  "  with  Angels  and 
Archangels  and  with  all  the  Company  of  heaven 
evermore  praising  [Him J  and  saying  Holy! 
Holy!  Holy!  Lord  God  of  Hosts.  Heaven  and 
earth  are  full  of  Thy  glory.  Glory  be  to  Thee 
O  Lord  most  High.     Amen." 

1.    Heb.  X.  19,20. 


THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  31 

II. 

To  pass  on  to  the  claim  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  to  stand  for  lohat  is  permanent  in  the 
Christian  religion,  which  has  been  committed  to 
the  Apostolic  Ministry  in  trust,  and  lohich  there- 
fore is  "  incapable  of  compromise  or  surrender  ^ 

(a)  A  great  deal  has  been  said  and  written 
since  our  Bishops  put  forth  their  declaration 
on  Church  Unity  in  1886,  which  is  based 
upon  a  serious  misinterpretation.  This  mis- 
interpretation has  arisen  from  isolating  our 
term.s  of  Unity  from  the  body  of  the  Declara- 
tion of  which  they  are  a  part  and  which  ex- 
plains the  sense  in  which  they  are  submitted. 

Thus,  one  of  the  most  able  of  our  own 
Clergy  has  persuaded  himself  and  others  that 
the  phrase  "  Historic  Episcopate  "  means  the 
Episcopate  as  a  historic  fact  merely,  without 
reference  to  any  doctrine  whatever  concerning 
it;  and  he  urges  this  interpretation  with  the 
amiable  but  vain  hope  that,  if  Protestants  can 
be  persuaded  that  they  are  not  asked  to  accept 
the  Episcopate  as  Divinely  ordained,  or  as 
having  any  necessary  authority  beyond  what 
men  concede  to   it\  they  will  at   once   submit 

1.    See  App.  III. 


32  THE  HISTORICAL  POSITION  OF 

and  swell  the  ranks  of  that  prospective  Na- 
tional Church  which  fills  his  imagination  and 
kindles  his  aspirations.  But  any  one  can  see 
that  no  denomination,  however  respectable,  can 
consistently  or  without  grave  presumption,  re- 
quire as  an  ultimate  term  of  Unity  anything 
which  it  is  not  at  the  same  time  convinced  is 
of  Divine  origin  and  requirement  and,  for  that 
reason,  unalterable  by  man.  It  is  not  surpris- 
ing therefore,  that  many  Protestants,  misled 
by  the  interpretation  to  which  I  have  referred, 
have  criticised  our  attitude  severely. 

But  an  examination  of  the  Bishops'  Decla- 
ration itself  is  sufficient  to  clear  us  of  the 
charge  of  inconsistenc}^  whatever  may  be 
thought  of  the  historical  validity  of  our 
position. 

As  I  have  already  stated,  the  terms  in  ques- 
tion are  but  a  part  of  the  Declaration  on 
Unity.  In  that  Declaration  it  is  expressly 
claimed  that  the  terms  which  are  submitted 
are — to  quote  its  own  language — "  inherent 
parts  of  a  sacred  deposit,".  .  ."the  substantial 
deposit  of  Christian  Faith  and  Order  commit- 
ted by  Christ  and  His  Apostles  to  the  Church 
unto  the  end  of  the  world,  and  therefore  in- 


THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  33 

capable  of  compromise  or  surrender  by  those 
who  have  been  ordained  to  be  its  stewards  and 
ti'ustees  for  tl^e  common  and  equal  benefit  of 
all  men^" 

We  do  not  therefore  insist  upon  the  Historic 
Episcopate  as  a  venerable  institution  merely, 
nor  because  it  is  the  Ministry  most  likely  to  be 
accepted  by  all,  however  true  I  shall  show  that 
to  be,  nor  on  any  human  ground  whatever,  but 
because  Christ  instituted  it  for  all  time,  so 
that  our  only  power  in  the  matter  is  to  exer- 
cise this  Ministry  for  the  benefit  of  the  faith- 
ful and  to  transmit  it  without  fail  to  succeeding 
ages.  We  cannot  compromise  or  surrender  it 
by  entering  into  any  scheme  of  union  which  is 
likely  to  result  in  its  continuance  and  authority 
being  made  an  open  questioD. 

The  subtle  distinction  between  what  is  es- 
sential to  the  being  of  the  Church  and  what  is 
essential  to  its  well  being  is  entirely  irrelevant. 
We  do  not  cling  to  the  Episcopate  on  abstract 
but  on  histo7nc  grounds.  It  is  historically  of 
Divine  origin,  and  has  been  committed  to  us 
as  a  sacred  trust;  and,  therefore,  is  incapable 
of  compromise  or  surrender. 

1.    General  Convention  Journal  of  1386,  p.  80. 


Gi  THE  HISTORICAL  POSITION  OF 

Those  wlio  misunderstand  us  think  that  we 
are  illiberal.  We  are  not.  Even  if  our  claim 
is  mistaken,  it  is  honest  and  based  upon  the 
best  historical  evidence  available.  You  do  not 
consider  a  trustee  liberal  who  surrenders  what 
is  committed  to  his  keeping.  You  rather  look 
upon  him  as  dishonourable.  You  cannot,  there- 
fore, consistently  ask  the  Episcopal  Church  to 
betray  the  Episcopal  Ministry,  so  long  as  it 
thinks  that  that  Ministry  has  been  received  in 
trust  from  God  to  be  preserved  through  all 
generations.  What  our  Declaration  on  Unity 
urges  upon  you  is,  that  to  secure  Unity  we 
must  return  to  the  ancient  paths,  by  becoming 
loyal  servants  of  wdiat  history  shows  to  be  the 
original  Christian  Keligion;  which,  with  its 
Apostolic  Ministry,  is  God's  Religion,  founded 
for  the  common  benefit  of  all  generations  of 
men ;  also,  that  our  relationship  to  it  is  not  one 
of  ownership,  but  of  (.I'lsciplesliip  and  irustee- 
sliip.  We  urge  you,  in  God's  Name,  to  become 
its  disciples  also.  AVe  do  not  seek  to  absorb 
your  denominafions,  but  we  w^ant  you,  baptized 
brethren  of  the  Catholic  Church,  to  recognize 
your  own  spiritual  Mother,  and  share  with  us 
in  the  blessings  she  imparts  to  her  loyal  chil- 


THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  35 

dren  aud  in  her  coming  glory.  We  refuse  to 
compromise  or  surrender — not  what  loe  own, 
but — ^Yhat  (rocZ  owns,  and  has  commanded  us 
to  preserve  for  you  and  for  all  others  who  may 
be  called  of  God  into  the  Unity  of  His  Holy 
Catholic  Church. 

My  brethren,  we  are  not  worthy  of  the  trust 
which  God  has  given  us.  The  Jeivs  were  not 
intrusted  with  the  Oracles  of  God  because  they 
were  worthy^  So  we  cannot  lay  claim  to  any 
peculiar  righteousness  which  fits  us  to  bear 
the  vessels  of  the  Lord;  but,  recognizing  that 
we  are  mere  stewards  who  carry  God's  mercy 
in  earthen  vessels^,  we  call  upon  you,  in  God's 
Name,  to  come  to  the  rescue  with  your  zeal 
and  piety,  and  share  in  the  enjoyment  and  dis- 
tribution of  the  blessings  which  a  loving  Father 
is  asking  you  as  well  as  ourselves  to  receive 
and  distribute. 

[h)  God  overrules  the  weakness  of  men. 
Through  all  the  ages  He  has  wrought  spiritual 
marvels  through  those  who  were  unworthy  of 
the  trust  and  ministry  conferred  upon  them; 
and  the  Church  with  which  He  has  thus  dealt, 
has  shown  a  power  and  energy  in  the  midst  of 

1.    Rom.II.  17-III.9.  2.    II  Cor.  IV.  7. 


36  THE  IIISTORTCAL  POSITION  OF 

weakness  which  has  often  shut  the  mouths  of 
her  enemies. 

Three  centuries  of  persecution  but  multiplied 
her  saints.  Court  policy  and  fundamental 
heresy,  combined  against  her,  simply  enabled 
her  to  set  forth  the  truths  which  Avere  assailed, 
more  clearly  than  ever,  and  in  terms  which 
can  never  become  obsolete  or  cease  to  rally  the 
faithful  before  the  throne  of  God.  Barbarian 
inroads  but  gave  new  masses  of  humanity  for 
her  to  leaven.  The  Papacy  itself  gave  prestige 
to  her  missionaries,  and  papal  corruption  is 
not  to-day  what  it  was  in  the  sixteenth  century. 
Twice  has  the  visible  Unity  of  the  Catholic 
Church  been  broken,  but  the  mutually  alien- 
ated portions, — the  Greek,  the  Latin  and  the 
Anglican — have  preserved  their  common  heri- 
tage of  Faith  and  Order  in  spite  of  many  evils. 
In  fact,  the  corruptions  of  the  Roman  Curia 
have  been  urged  as  an  argument  for  the  pres- 
ence of  superhuman  life  in  the  Roman  Com- 
munion, since  that  Communion  has  survived 
them  and  appears  more  vigorous  than  ever 

But  no  portion  of  the  Church  has  given 
proofs  of  such  indestructible  vitality  as  has  the 


THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  87 

Anglican  Communion^  The  Historic  Episco- 
pate has  existed  in  England  since  the  second 
century,  without  interruption.  The  original 
British  Church,  however,  was  driven  into 
Wales  by  the  Anglo-Saxon  invaders  of  the 
fifth  and  sixth  centuries. 

In  597,  the  work  of  converting  these  invad- 
ers commenced  under  St.  Augustine,  who  was 
sent  with  forty  monks  by  Pope  Gregory  L,  and 
became  the  first  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 
Celtic  missionaries  from  lona  aided  the  Romans 
in  converting  the  northern  parts;  but,  in  664, 
Roman  usages  were  finally  adopted,  and  under 
Theodore,  consecrated  by  Pope  Vitalian  in 
668  A.  D.,  the  English  sees  were  filled  with 
Bishops  who  traced  their  succession  from  S. 
Peter  and  his  successors  in  the  Roman  see. 
The  Ecdesia  Anglicana,  as  it  came  to  be  called, 
completed  its  national  organization  under  The- 
odore; and  this  organization  preceded  and 
made  possible  the  political  unity  of  England. 

In  those  days,  the  Pope  was  looked  up  to 
by  Anglicans  with  respect  and  gratitude;  but, 
while  he  exercised  great  influence  in  England, 
that   influence  was   moral   simply.      From  the 

1.    See  App.  I. 


38  THE  HISTORICAL  POSITION  OF 

time  of  William  the  Conqueror,  however,  claims 
to  constitutioDal  supremacy  began  to  be  urged. 
These  claims  were  not  admitted  in  theory; 
but,  none  the  less,  the  papal  power  had  be- 
come practically  very  excessive  in  England  by 
the  time  of  Henry  III.,  and  brought  many  evils 
in  its  train.  Yet  this  supremacy  was  at  no 
time  legally  or  canonically  acknowledged  in 
England,  but  from  time  to  time  protested 
against  as  a  usurpation.  The  ground  taken 
then  and  at  all  times  has  been  that  which  gov- 
erned certain  decisions  of  the  First  General 
Council  of  Nicea,  325  A.  D.,  which  places  the 
local  government  of  every  geographical  portion 
of  the  Universal  Church  under  its  own  Bishops 
and  the  nearest  Metropolitans.  Statute  after 
statute  was  passed  against  papal  usurpation, 
but  without  permanent  effect  until  the  time  of 
Henry  YIII.  Henry  was  a  despot,  whose 
enormities  are  known  to  all.  Yet  God  over- 
ruled his  iniquities  and  tyranny  to  the  good  of 
the  English  Church — /.  e.,  to  the  restoration  of 
the  ancient  self-government  of  the  Ecclesia 
AngUcana. 

In  abolishing  the    papal  supremacy,  Henry 
endeavoured  to  secure  for  himself  an  ecclesias- 


TEE  EPISCOPAL  GHUPCH. 


tical  supremacy  equally  absolute.  But  the 
Clergy  refused — and  they  alone  of  Henry's 
subjects  had  the  boldness  to  withstand  his 
will — refused,  I  say,  to  acknowledge  his  su- 
premacy until  he  consented  to  the  words  "  So 
far  as  the  law  of  Christ  doth  allow,"  and 
explained  that  no  invasion  of  spiritual  rights 
was  contemplated,  but  merely  a  re- assertion  of 
the  ancient  constitutional  principle  that  the 
king  is  kiiig  of  ecclesiastical  persons  as  well  as 
of  secular  ones\  In  accordance  with  this  in- 
dependent attitude  (too  often  misrepresented 
by  popular  writers),  the  ancient  Ecclesia 
Anglicana,  which  antedates  the  very  Kingdom 
of  England  itself,  and  to  which  that  kingdom  is 
indebted  for  its  constitution  and  Magna  Charta, 
began  the  work  of  reforming  itself.  No  break 
of  ecclesiastical  continuity  occurred;  and,  when 
Convocation  declared,  in  1534,  that  the  Bishop 
of  Rome  hath  not,  according  to  the  Scriptures, 
any  greater  jurisdiction  in  this  realm,  of  England 
by  Divine  right,  than  any  other  foreign  Bishop, 
it  simply  fell  back  upon  the  opening  sentence 
of  Magna  Charta,  which  declared  that  the 
Ecclesia  Anglicana  should  be  forever  free ;  and 

1.    Dixon'sHist.  Eng.  Cliurcli;  Vol.  I.  57-68. 


40  THE  HISTORICAL  POSITION  OF 

upon  the  ancient  right  of  Bishops  of  the  Cath- 
olic Church  to  govern  within  their  own  geo- 
graphical jurisdictions  on  behalf  of  the  universal 
Episcopate.  Many  aucient  title  deeds  and 
statutes  show  the  falsity  of  Macaulay's  asser- 
tion that  Henry  VIII.  founded  the  English 
Church.  He  merely  delivered  it  from  a  usurped 
foreign  tyranny. 

Under  Edward's  regency,  the  Church's  Synod 
was  largely  ignored,  and  consequently  the 
more  radical  legislation  of  that  reign  concern- 
ing ecclesiastical  matters  was  unconstitutional, 
and  never  came  to  life  again  after  Mary's 
accession  rendered  it  ineffective.  Under  Eliza- 
beth the  Reformation  was  renewed.  She  was 
despotic,  but  the  Church  acted  through  her 
own  Synods.  The  Episcopate  was  perpetuated 
through  Archbishop  Parker,  the  validity  of 
whose  consecration  has  been  acknowledged  by 
the  Roman  historian  Lingard,  by  the  Romish 
Sorbonne  of  Paris,  and  by  many  eminent  Roman 
theologians.  The  Prayer  Book  and  Thirty- 
Nine  Articles  were  put  forth.  These  Articles 
were  eirenical;  and,  for  the  sake  of  peace, 
adopted  the  forms  of  expression  most  likely  to 
gain  acceptance  among  the  members  of  the  Pu- 


THE  EPISCOPAL  VIIUPCH.  41 

ritan  faction  already  appearing.  But  Calvinism 
was  carefully  expurgated  from  the  phrases  em- 
ployed. No  other  proof  of  this  should  be 
needed  than  the  subsequent  course  of  events. 
The  Calvinists  became  more  and  more  discon- 
tented ;  and,  after  failing  in  an  attempt  to  secure 
an  adoption  of  the  Lambeth  Articles,  in  1595, 
drifted  into  non-conformity  and  dissent.  On 
the  other  hand,  those  who  remained  attached  to 
the  Elizabethan  settlement  and  were  influenced 
by  its  atmosphere  developed  during  the  next 
generation  into  the  Catholic  School  of  Andrewes 
and  Laud. 

Meanwhile  the  Church  came  between  two 
fires — the  State  and  the  Puritans.  An  unfor- 
tunate association  of  her  interests  with  those 
of  a  tyrannical  government — an  association 
which  came  about  by  the  personal  and  passing 
political  mistakes  of  those  in  power,  and  was 
not  a  part  of  her  official  and  doctrinal  position 
at  all — obscured  her  spiritual  position,  alien- 
ated the  people  to  a  great  extent,  and  strength- 
ened the  hands  of  dissent.  She  was  persecuted 
and  driven  into  hiding  places.  Her  services 
were  proscribed  and  her  Clergy  were  deprived 
of  their  means  of  subsistence  and  imprisoned 


42  THE  HISTORICAL  POSITION  OF 

in  plague-breeding  hulks.  The  reaction  came 
and  brought  its  own  evils — licentiousness  and 
flippancy  in  high  quarters.  Dissent  was  natu- 
rally but  barely  allowed  to  exist,  for  the  idea  of 
physical  toleration  was  not  understood  by  any 
party  as  yet.  In  spite  of  all,  however,  the 
Church  made  rapid  headway  and  had  practi- 
cally become  the  Church  of  nineteen-twentieths 
of  the  people  by  the  time  of  James  II.,  when 
seven  of  her  Bishops  immortalized  themselves 
by  resisting  openly  the  popish  manoeuvres  of 
that  monarch.  The  revolution  came,  and 
William's  reign  fostered  the  development  of 
rationalism — especially  among  the  Bishops. 
He  cared  nothing  for  the  Church's  ancient 
position,  and,  without  appreciating  the  real 
loyalty  of  the  Non-jurors  and  the  purely  tech- 
nical nature  of  their  scruple  as  to  taking  the 
oath  of  renunciation  of  James  11. ,  deprived  the 
Church  of  England  at  a  blow  of  the  very  flower 
of  her  Ministry.  The  upper  house  of  Convocation 
degenerated  rapidly,  therefore,  and  before  the 
opening  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  two 
houses  of  that  body  were  at  war  with  each 
other.  The  Church's  Synod  was  finally  sus- 
pended by  royal  authority,  in  1717,   and  not 


THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  43 

allowed  to  meet  again  for  the  dispatch  of  busi- 
ness until  1852.  The  Church's  enemies  seemed 
to  triumph,  but  the  very  completeness  of  their 
victory  was  God's  means  of  preserving  her 
ancient  heritage  and  formularies  amid  the 
dreary  chaos  of  Deism,  high  and  dry — intensely 
dry  —  Churchism,  and  non-sacramental  low 
Churchism  of  the  eighteenth  century.  No 
Convocation  meant  an  unchanged  Prayer  Book, 
and  Providence  blinded  the  Church's  enemies 
so  that  they  did  not  complete  their  work  by 
reviving  and  using  the  proper  legal  instrument 
for  depraving  her  formularies. 

The  Sacraments  fell  into  disuse  under  the 
cold  indifference  of  a  semi-deistic  and  erastian 
Episcopate;  so  that,  when  the  inextinguishable 
life  of  the  Church  revived  from  below,  it  first 
exhibited  itself  on  the  non-sacramental,  one- 
sided and  emotional  lines  of  the  Evangelical 
Movement.  The  Wesleyan  Movement — not 
formally  schismatic  during  Wesley's  life-time 
— maintained  the  regular  use  of  the  Sacra- 
ments, but  broke  away  finally  and  lost  its  sac- 
ramental character  when  it  lost  the  Episcopal 
Ministry. 


44  THE  HISTORICAL  FOSITIOy  OF 

But  Evangelical  zeal  could  not  support  itself 
without  the  foundations  of  Historic  Christianity. 
Those  foundations  were  still  preserved  and 
officially  maintained  in  the  Book  of  Common 
Prayer.  Accordingly,  when  threats  of  dises- 
tablishment led  to  a  closer  examination  of  the 
Church's  spiritual  position,  the  Catholic  move- 
ment of  this  century  began  in  1833; — a  move- 
ment which  no  man  has  been  able  to  check  or 
control;  which  has  affected  the  entire  Anglican 
Communion;  which  has  survived  discourage- 
ments of  dignitaries,  consequent  impatient  and 
illogical  movements  Romeward,  widespread  pan- 
ics resulting  therefrom,  hostile  decisions  of 
state-controlled  courts,  open  persecution  and  the 
imprisonment  of  some  of  its  leaders;  and  which 
now  confronts  the  Christian  world  with  the 
Book  of  Common  Prayer  in  hand  as  its  evidence 
that  the  Anglican  Communion  stands  to-day  as 
ever  for  the  original  of  the  Christian  Religion 
— reformed  of  its  mediaeval  accretions,  indeed, 
but  ever  the  same  and  "  incapable  of  compro- 
mise or  surrender." 

It  is  a  marvellous  history, — in  which  our 
American  body  shares.  For  one  hundred  and 
fifty  years  our  only  Bishop  resided  in  London, 


THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 


and  even  our  ordinations  took  place  three 
thousand  miles  across  the  sea.  We  finally 
secured  an  American  Episcopate,  but  our  local 
organization  was  attended  with  great  peril.  We 
were  surrounded  with  hostile  dissent,  which 
enormously  outnumbered  us,  and  suspected  of 
political  disloyalty.  The  prevalent  Deism  had 
leavened  the  minds  of  some  of  our  leadinof 
Clergy  and  rendered  them  careless  as  to  funda- 
mental verities.  Yet  no  doctrinal  changes  in 
our  formularies  occurred.  The  Anglican  Book 
of  Common  Prayer  was  adopted,  with  verbal 
revision,  and  a  declaration  inserted  that  "this 
Church  is  far  from  intending  to  depart  from 
the  Church  of  England  in  any  essential  point 
of  doctrine,  discipline,  or  worship ;  or  further 
than  local  circumstances  require."  Somewhat 
timid  at  first,  our  Clergy  and  laity  gathered 
courage  as  time  went  by,  and  discovered  that 
their  success  in  winning  souls  was  in  propor- 
tion to  their  definite  assertion  of  the  Church's 
historic  position  and  clear  proclamation  of  the 
truths  which  they  had  received.  Since  the 
Catholic  revival  has  brought  into  clearer  light 
the  priceless  treasures  embodied  in  our  Prayer 
Book,  the  Episcopal  Church  has  exercised  an 


46  TEE  HISTORICAL  POSITION  OF 

inHueuce  grotesquely  out  of  proportion  to  her 
size,  our  opponents  being  judges. 

Permit  me  to  quote  certain  notable  words, 
written  over  fifty  years  ago,  which  epitomize 
the  post-reformation  part  of  the  history  I  ha^ve 
given.  "If  there  ever  were  a  Church  on  which 
the  experiment  has  been  tried,  whether  it  had 
life  or  not,  the  English  is  that  one  ....  It 
has  endured  in  trouble  and  prosperity,  under 
seduction  and  under  oppression.  It  has  been 
practised  upon  by  theorists,  brow-beaten  by 
sophists,  intimidated  by  princes,  betrayed  by 
false  sons,  laid  waste  by  tyranny,  corrupted  by 
wealth,  torn  by  schism  and  persecuted  by  fanat- 
icism. Revolutions  have  come  upon  it  sharply 
and  suddenly,  to  and  fro,  hot  and  cold,  as  if  to 
try  what  it  was  made  of.  It  has  been  a  sort  of 
battlefield  on  which  opposite  principles  have 
been  tried.  No  opinion,  however  extreme,  but 
may  be  found,  as  the  Eomanists  are  not  slow 
to  reproach  us,  among  its  Bishops  and  Divines. 
Yet  what  has  been  its  career  on  the  whole?  .  . 
Lutherans  have  tended  to  Rationalism;  Cal- 
vinists  have  become  Socinians;  but  what  has 
it  become?  As  far  as  its  formularies  are  con- 
cerned, it  may  be  said  all  along  to  have  grown 


THE  EPISCOPAL  CHUUCH.  47 

towards  a  more  perfect  Catholicism  than  that 
with  which  it  started  at  the  time  of  its  estrange- 
ment ....  In  our  own  times  temporal  defences 
have  been  removed  which  the  most  strenuous 
political  partisans  of  the  Church  considered 
essential  to  its  well  being,  and  the  loss  of  Avhich 
they  deplored  as  the  first  steps  towards  its 
ruin.  To  their  surprise  ....  they  beheld 
what  they  thought  a  mere  establishment,  de- 
pendent on  man  to  create  and  destroy,  rise  up 
and  walk  with  a  life  of  its  own,  such  as  it  had 
before  they  and  their  constitution  came  into 
being^" 

It  is  such  a  history  that  makes  us  so  sure 
that  the  Episcopal  Church  stands  for  what  is 
permanent  in  Christianity  and  incapable  of 
compromise  or  surrender  even  by  those  of  her 
Ministers  who  would  undertake  such  treachery. 

I  am  trying  your  patience,  I  know;  but  our 
points  of  view  differ  too  Avidely  for  me  to  ex- 
plain our  position  briefly,  and  I  must  clear  up 
a  few  misconceptions  before  explaining  the 
claim  of  the  Episcopal  Church  to  stand  for  the 
only  possible  basis  of  Church  Unity. 

1.    British  Critic  of  Jan.  1840,  p.  77. 


48  THE  HISTORICAL  POSITION  OF 

(a)  It  is  said  that  the  Episcopal  claims  can- 
not be  proved  by  Biblical  texts.  Such  an 
objection  can  only  be  urged  by  one  who  Ims 
failed  to  perceive  the  real  nature  of  the  Cath- 
olic position  assumed  by  us;  which  is,  as  it  has 
been  the  design  of  my  paper  to  show,  that  of 
allegiance  to  a  religion  which  we  are  convinced 
is  more  ancisnt  than  Holy  Scripture,  and 
which  determines  the  point  of  view  from  which 
the  different  portions  of  the  Bible  were  written. 
The  Bible,  therefore,  is  filled  to  bursting  with 
this  religion  from  end  to  end;  but  was  written 
for  the  edification  of  those  who  already  adhered 
to  it  rather  than  to  explain  its  details  to  con- 
verts or  to  furnish  an  arsenal  of  proofs.  We 
are  not  concerned,  therefore,  with  chapter  and 
verse — although  by  no  means  helpless  in  that 
direction — so  much  as  Avith  the  uninterrupted 
pertinency  of  the  entire  Scriptures.  Our 
Biblical  proof  is,  we  think,  overwhelming; 
but  it  consists  chiefly  in  this,  that  when  the 
reader  once  acquires  our  point  of  view,  many 
Biblical  treasures  are  unlocked  of  which  the 
dissenting  world  appears  to  have  no  inkling; 
and  the  connected  harmony  of  the  Sacred 
Volume  as  a  whole  flashes  upon  the  mind  in 


THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  49 

dazzling  splendour.  If  I  can  induce  a  man  to 
read  the  Bible  through  devoutly  and  honestly, 
after  mastering^  the  Catholic  standpoint,  I  have 
no  fears  as  to  the  result.  The  Bible  never 
turned  a  properly  trained  Catholic  into  a  Sec- 
tarian. 

(6)  Again,  it  may  be  objected  that  many 
eminent  Episcopalians  will  not  assent  to  the 
position  which  has  been  here  set  forth.  That 
is  true,  and  I  acknowledge  the  fact  that  there 
are  various  schools  of  thought  among  Episco- 
palians which  set  forth  opposing  opinions.  But 
true  and  lamentable  as  it  is,  it  is  entirely  irrel- 
evant. I  did  not  come  here,  my  brethren,  to 
represent  the  prevalent  opinions  of  individuals, 
however  eminent,  or  of  schools,  however  exten- 
sive. I  am  exhibiting  to  the  best  of  my  ability 
what  the  Church  stands  for,  which  tolerates 
these  schools  without  sanctioning  them.  I  find 
this  in  her  formularies  and  obligatory  in- 
stitutions— embodied  in  the  Book  of  Common 
Prayer.  Let  me  illustrate :  Should  any  Priest 
deny  the  Apostolic  Succession,  he  may  learn 
from  the  preface  of  the  services  for  ordination, 

1.  I  do  not  mean  after  accepting  it,  but  after  being  able  to  assume 
it  correctly  for  tlie  purpose  of  argument. 


50  THE  IITSTOniCAL  POSITION  OF 

that,  even  though  the  Church  may  refrain  from 
disciplining  him,  she  does  not  sanction  his 
opinion.  Does  he  deny  the  supernatural  efficacy 
of  priestly  ministrations,  let  him  remember 
that,  when  the  Bishop  made  him  Priest,  he  did 
so  with  the  words,  "AV^hose  sins  thou  dost  for- 
give, they  are  forgiven;  and  whose  sins  thou 
dost  retain,  they  are  retained."  Bishop  Cheney 
discovered  that  the  Church  will  not  even  tol- 
erate a  denial  of  infant  regeneration  by  means 
of  Baptism,  when  such  denial  leads  to  a  muti- 
lation of  the  Baptismal  Service.  Finally,  if  a 
Priest  does  not  believe  that  the  consecrated 
Eucharistic  Elements  are  the  Body  and  Blood 
of  Christ,  he  must  none  the  less  teach  his  can- 
didates for  Confirmation  a  Catechism  which 
says  that  the  inward  part  of  the  Sacrament  of 
the  Lord's  Supper  is  "  The  Body  and  Blood  of 
Christ,"  and  must  administer  the  consecrated 
bread  and  wine  with  the  words,  "  The  Body  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  ....  "The  Blood  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  etc. 

I  have  tried  to  show  historically  that  passing 
waves  of  opinion  and  of  imperfect  loyalty  to  the 
Church's  ancient  position,  have  not,  in  fact, 
altered  that  position.      They  cannot  do  so;  and 


THE  EPISCOPAL  CnURCH.  51 

it  is  because  of  this  security — a  security  which 
rests  upon  Christ's  promise  and  presence — that 
she  can  tolerate  imperfect  opinions  with  safety, 
and  can  refuse  to  quench  a  smoking  tiax  by  ex- 
cluding an  imperfect  believer,  until  forced  to  do 
so  by  direct  repudiation  of  her  formularies,  or 
mutilation  of  the  rites  in  which  her  mind  is 
exhibited.  No  man-made  society  can  thus 
tolerate  permanently  within  its  midst  what  it 
cannot  sanction,  without  going  to  pieces;  but 
the  Episcopal  Church  has  done  so  for  ages,  and 
has  not  yet  gone  to  pieces. 

(c)  What  I  have  said  should  remove 
another  misapprehension  concerning  the  Epis- 
copal Church.  It  is  objected  that  Episcopalians 
do  not,  as  a  rule,  live  religiously  or  exhibit  the 
fruits  of  the  Spirit;  and  it  is  added,  "  By  their 
fruits  ye  shall  know  them."  I  am  not  going  to 
deny  the  many  imperfections  of  the  average 
Churchman.  I  am  but  too  well  aware  of  them 
and  of  my  own.  And  I  am  ready  to  admit  that 
if  you  measure  us  individuals  of  average  level 
by  our  fruits,  we  shall  suffer  severe  judgment. 
But  here  again  there  is  a  misconception  of  what 
we  claim  to  stand  for.     Let  me  explain. 


52  THE  HISTORICAL  POSITION  OF 

Neither  the  Jewish  nor  the  Christian  dispen- 
sation constituted  the  Church  to  be  an  organi- 
zation of  the  righteous  who  need  no  salvation, 
but  rather  to  be  the  place  in  which  and  the 
means  by  which  to  save  sinners.  It  is  Christ 
Who  likens  His  Kingdom  to  a  drag-net  which 
gathers  in  fish  of  every  kind,  and  retains  them, 
if  possible,  until  the  day  of  judgment.  It  is  be- 
cause we  are  so  sinful  and  in  need  of  sanctifi- 
cation  that  the  Church  gathers  us  in  and 
retains  us,  that  she  may  gradually  leaven  our 
corrupt  hearts  and  minds,  and  save  us.  She  dis- 
ciplines us  with  tender  love,  but  does  not  ex- 
clude us;  since  to  do  so  is  to  deprive  those 
whom  God  died  to  save  of  the  means  by  which 
He  ordains  that  His  saving  grace  shall  be  ap- 
plied to  them.  This  saving  work  is  life-long. 
There  may  be  fall  after  fall,  but  even  though 
repentance  has  to  be  repeated  seventy  times 
seven,  Jesus  Christ  is  ready  in  his  Church 
to  forgive  and  heal.  For  the  Church  to 
drive  out  the  un spiritual  would  be  for  her 
to  abandon  her  work  of  saving  the  world. 
Therefore,  what  you  see  of  our  imperfec- 
tions, while  it  proves  that  we  are  not  yet 
made  perfect,  also  shows  that  the  Church   to 


THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  53 

which  we  belong  is  a  Catholic  Church,  ordained 
by  Him  Who  came  to  seek  and  save  that  which 
was  lost,  and  who  refrained  from  excommuni- 
cating even  when  His  disciple  denied  Him. 

This  Church  is  Holy — not  because  of  its 
earthly  membership,  but  because  Jesus  is  its 
Head, the  Holy  Ghost  is  its  animating  spirit,  and 
sanctification  of  souls  is  the  ultimate  result  of 
its  work. 

(d)  Again,  it  is  said  that  our  position  is 
sacerdotalism  pure  and  simple,  and  infringes 
upon  the  prerogatives  of  the  only  Mediator 
between  God  and  Man\  And  it  is  frequently 
added,  if  we  were  consistent  we  would  submit 
to  the  Pope.  Well,  at  the  risk  of  being 
thought  a  disciple  of  anti-Christ,  I  must  ac- 
knowledge that  our  position  does  mean  sacer- 
dotalism, pure  and  simple — although  it  does 
not  involve  the  consequences  which  Protestants 
suppose.  Sacerdotalism,  properly  understood, 
means  a  conviction  that  Christ  exercises  His 
Priesthood,  which  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
emphasizes  so  strongly,  through  a  3Iinistry  of 
His  own  appointment  and  empowering.  We 
Priests    are   Priests   because  we    are   Christ's 

1.    I.  Tim.  II.  5. 


54  THE  HISTORICAL  POSITION  OF 

iDstrumeuts  in  performing  on  earth  what  He 
performs  in  glory  above.  We  do  not  displace 
Him,  but  He  uses  ns  as  His  Ministers.  The 
powers  which  we  wield  are  official  ones — not 
personal.  We  are  nothing  save  by;  His  ap- 
pointment and  presence.  This  Nation  recently 
offered  to  mediate  between  China  and  Japan, 
but  the  offer  was  officially  and  effeciivcly  com- 
municated through  our  Secretary  of  State.  It 
would  have  been  absurd  on  that  account  to 
interpret  Judge  Gresham's  act  as  putting  his 
own  person  between  the  United  States  and  the 
Eastern  Nations.  It  is  the  same  with  sacer- 
dotalism. We  are  called  Priests  as  the  Minis- 
ters of  the  Great  High  Priest.  Our  ministry  is 
with  power,  but  with  ministerial  power  simply. 
The  only  personal  power  which  can  come  be- 
tween the  soul  and  God  in  the  Catholic  Church 
is  that  of  Jesus  Christ^ 

As  to  submitting  to  the  Pope,  it  would  be 
logical,  if  logic  required  that  in  order  to  em- 
brace a  religious  system  consistently,  one 
should  also  embrace  every  caricature  of  it  and 
accretion  to  it  which  human  craft  may  have 
invented.      We  look  more  like  Romanists  than 

1.    See  App.  IV. 


THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  55 

Protestants,  I  admit;  but  would  any  one  think 
that,  because  a  cleansed  portrait  resembled  a 
spattered  one  more  than  one  which  had  been 
torn  to  shreds,  it  should  therefore  be  spattered 
again  as  soon  as  possible!  No,  we  hope  that 
the  spattered  portrait  will  be  cleaned,  and  that 
the  one  which  has  been  torn  will  be  reproduced 
from  the  original  negative. 

(e)  Again,  it  is  said  that  times  change  and 
the  Catholic  System  is  out  of  date.  Christianity 
must  adapt  itself  to  new  conditions.  We  can 
only  reply  that  the  Catholic  System  is  Catholic 
because  it  has  the  capacity  of  adaptation  to 
the  most  diverse  conditions.  Christ  ordained 
the  Church  and  her  Ministry  for  all  time, 
which  he  would  not  have  done  without  per- 
ception beforehand  of  its  Catholic  elasticity. 
Moreover,  since  the  Church  is  God's  and  not 
man's,  it  may  not  be  modified  in  its  original 
constitution  save  on  Divine  authority — an 
authority  to  which  we  lay  no  manner  of  claim. 


III. 

After  all  that  I  have  said  I  need  not  detain 
you  long  in  explaining  why  we  claim  our  posi- 


56  THE  HISTOmCAL  POSITION  OF 

tion  to  be  the  only  possible  basis  of  Church 
Unify. 

That  Church  Unity  must  be  attained  if  pos- 
sible, cannot  be  doubted  by  any  habitual  and 
devout  reader  of  Holy  Scripture.  Schism  is 
there  condemned  in  unsparing  terms.  In  Old 
Testament  days,  for  example,  no  amount  of 
falling  away  in  the  Jewish  Church  was  held 
to  justify  schism  from  it;  and  the  same  mes- 
sages which  in  the  New  Testament  denounce 
certain  Churches  for  the  wickedness  prevailing 
in  them  speak  with  equally  harsh  terms  of 
those  who  would  c;i-eate  divisions  in  them^ 
Let  me  speak  frankly.  We  think  that  the 
founders  of  modern  Protestant  sects  did  a 
huge  wrong  in  fact,  although  we  acquit  them 
of  malice  prepense.  It  was  their  sad  misfake, 
as  I  am  sure  they  now  recognize  and  deplore. 

(a)  There  must  be  reunion ;  but  the  Unity 
which  we  ought  to  seek  is  a  visible  conformity 
of  all  Christians  to  that  organism  which  Christ 
established,  along  with  a  healing  of  its  internal 
dissensions.  And  this  is  our  first  reason  for 
saying  that  the  Episcopal  Church  stands  for 
the  only  possible  basis  of  Church  Unity — be- 

1.    Hammond's  Christian  Church,  What  is  It? 


THE  EPISCOPAL  CIIURCn. 


cause  we  are  convinced  tbat  it  stands  for  wliat 
Christ  designed  sbould  be  the  permanent 
organization  of  His  Church.  Holy  Scripture 
nowhere  gives  the  slightest  hint  of  Churches 
in  the  modern  sense — i.  e.,  of  Christian  organ- 
isms differing  in  kind  from  each  other  and 
taking  the  place  of  each  other  in  tlie  same 
localities.  The  New  Testament  Churches  are 
local  apportionments  of  jurisdiction  in  one 
Universal  Church,  in  which  the  same  features 
of  visible  organization  and  sacramental  life  are 
repeated.  When  S.  Paul  spoke  of  "  all  the 
Churches"  he  did  not  have  "denominations" 
in  mind,  but  local  congregations,  obeying  one 
Ministry,  one  Faith  and  one  Sacramental  Sys- 
tem. 

Gentlemen,  we  find  it  hard  to  understand  or 
bear  with  each  other  on  this  subject.  We  are 
thought  to  unchurch  the  Protestant  denomina- 
tions. But  it  is  a  mistake  to  think  so.  Only 
God  could  unchurch  anything,  which  once  was 
a  Church.  We  are  indeed  convinced  that  the 
Protestant  denominations  about  us  are  not,  as 
such,  genuine  Churches  of  the  New  Testament 
pattern — i.  e.,  organic  parts  of  the  Church  of 
Christ,  having  its  constitution  and  entitled  to 


58  THE  UISTOmCAL  POSITION  OF 

the  allegiance  of  its  members.  It  is  true,  that 
we  rather  look  upon  them  as  mere  human  soci- 
eties, differing  in  kind  from  anything  which 
Christ  planted,  whose  vei-y  existence  is  a  sad 
mistake,  since  they  withdraw  the  members  of 
Christ  from  their  allegiance  to  His  Ministry 
and  Sacraments.  This  is  our  conviction  con- 
cerning the  existing  situation,  but  we  neither 
caused  the  situation,  nor  do  we  rejoice  in  it. 
We  cannot  unchurch  anything,  but  we  have 
convictions  as  to  what  the  Church  is,  in  which 
Christ  wills  that  men  should  serve  under 
Him,  and  feel  it  our  duty  to  proclaim  what  we 
are  sure  has  been  committed  to  us  to  proclaim. 
If  we  cannot  agree  in  this,  and  if  our  disagree- 
ment affects  our  mutual  relations  and  prevents 
us  from  having  ecclesiastical  fellowship  with 
you,  let  us  strive  at  least  to  refrain  from  mutual 
misapprehensions  and  to  be  convinced  of  each 
other's  charity  and  honest  desire  to  promote 
the  welfare  of  mankind.  Meanwhile,  "  The 
truth  is  mighty  and  will  prevail."  God  speed 
the  day,  not  of  sacrificing  religious  convic- 
tions for  the  sake  of  deceptive  externals  of 
charity,   but  of  such  clear   knowledge   of  the 


THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  59 

truth  by  all  loyal  souls  that  charity  will  pre- 
vail because  truth  prevails. 

(6)  Another  reason  why  the  Episcopal 
Church  claims  to  stand  for  the  only  possible 
basis  of  Church  Unity  is  the  fact  that  its  Min- 
istry and  Sacraments  did,  as  history  shows, 
hold  the  Catholic  Church  together  for  many 
ceuturies,  and  that  each  departure  from  it  has 
been  the  cause  of  schism. 

Thus,  the  attempt  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome  to 
upset  the  Divinely  ordained  and  constitutional 
equality  of  all  Bishops  in  their  respective 
jurisdictions,  by  the  claim  to  rule  in  Christ's 
stead  by  Divine  right  over  the  whole  Church 
Militant,  caused  a  rupture  of  Communion  be- 
tween the  East  and  West  in  the  eleventh 
century,  and  between  the  Roman  obedience 
and  the  Anglican  Communion  in  the  sixteenth 
century.  The  Eastern  and  Anglican  Commun- 
ions are  now  drawing  towards  each  other  in 
proportion  to  their  greater  familiarity  with 
each  other's  adherence  to  the  ancient  paths; 
but  we  cannot,  even  for  the  sake  of  an  appear- 
ance of  Unity,  sacrifice  the  Divinely  ordained 
organization  of  Christ's  Church.  If  Rome 
should  reform  herself,  modify  her  attitude,  and 


60  THE  HISTORICAL  POSITION  OF 

permit  the  Apostolic  Ministry  to  exercise  its 
proper  functions  without  interference,  it  might 
be,  perhaps,  that  the  Unity  of  the  Church 
would  be  made  more  visible  to  the  world  by 
yielding  to  some  one  see — naturally  to  Home — 
a  precedency  of  honour  among  equals,  a  sort 
of  convenient  and  limited  presidency  in  matters 
subject  to  human  control,  such  as  was  allowed 
in  ancient  days.  If  such  a  thing  could  be 
done  without  peril  to  religion  and  with  increase 
of  charity,  no  Churchman  should  desire  to 
prevent  it. 

Again,  the  revolt  from  the  historic  Ministry 
and  Sacraments,  which  occurred  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  has  split  Western  Christendom  into 
hundreds  of  fragments,  and  has  greatly  in- 
creased the  causes  of  alienation  which  must  be 
removed  before  all  Christians  can  be  in  Com- 
munion and  visible  charity  with  each  other. 

These  facts  are  indisputable  and  their  sig- 
nificance appears  plain  to  us — i.  e.,  that  there 
is  only  one  Ministry  and  Sacramental  System, 
the  loyal  adherence  to  which  has  ever  kept  the 
Church  of  Christ  in  visible  Unity.  Our  plea 
is,  "Why  try  experiments?"  Church  Unity 
must  be  worked  for ;  let  us  then  make  use  of 


THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  CI 

the  means  which,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  has  dem- 
onstrated its  fitness  for  the  use  to  which  we 
would  put  it. 

(c)  Nor  is  this  all  of  the  matter.  We  are 
bound  to  consider,  before  adopting  any  plan  for 
the  restoration  of  visible  unity,  whether  it  is 
such  as  is  likely  to  secure  general  co-operation. 
As  some  of  our  Bishops  have  been  careful  to 
point  out,  the  only  Church  IJDity  with  which 
we  have  a  right  to  content  ourselves  must  be 
Avorld-wide.  The  entire  Catholic  world  must 
be  united  before  the  dying  prayer  of  Christ 
that  His  disciples  might  be  one,  can  be 
answered. 

Unless  we  refuse  to  Catholics  generally  the 
name  Christian — which  of  course,  we  Episco- 
palians cannot  do  without  changing  convictions 
which  lie  at  the  root  of  our  religious  life — it  is 
clear  that  over  three-fourths  of  the  entire  Chris- 
tian world  must  surrender  convictions  as  well 
as  preferences  before  any  basis  of  unity  will  be 
available,  other  than  what  has  been  named  by 
our  Bishops,  and  for  which  the  Episcopal 
Church  has  stood  since  a  time  which  antedates 
the  existence  of  Protestant  denominations  by 
many  ages. 


62  THE  HISTORICAL  POSITION  OF 

Is  it  not  natural  that  we  should  appeal  to 
history,  under  such  circumstances,  and  say 
that,  so  far  from  the  maintenance  of  the  His- 
toric Episcopate  and  Catholic  Religion  being 
a  barrier  to  Unity,  it  is  the  modern  rejection 
of  it  which  must  be  repaired  before  any  Unity 
is  possible  which  God  Avill  bless? 

I  have  but  little  more  to  say.  I  have  done 
my  best  to  enable  you  to  understand  us.  I 
have  not  concealed  anything  for  the  sake  of 
appearance  of  an  agreement  which  does  not 
exist;  but,  at  the  same  time,  have  tried  to  put 
you  in  a  position  to  see  that  our  inability  to 
co-operate  in  religious  matters  with  you  is  not 
caused  by  bitterness  of  spirit,  but  by  the  con- 
viction that  we  have  received  our  religious 
system  from  God,  for  sure  maintenance  and 
propagation  among  all  men;  and  that  we  can- 
not, without  a  breach  of  trust  for  which  God 
will  hold  us  to  strict  account,  even  seem  to 
acknowledge  any  substitute  as  lawful,  however 
sure  we  may  feel  that  its  adherents  are  sincere 
in  their  mistake  and  for  that  reason  blameless. 
We  do  not  judge  Prortestants.  We  give  them 
credit  for  good  faith.  But  we  believe  that  it 
makes    a  vast  difference  to  mankind  whether 


THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  63 

the  Catholic  Religion  prevails  or  not.  That 
it  will  prevail  we  have  no  manner  of  doubt. 
Thus  we  rest  our  case. 

The  securing  of  Church  Unity  seems,  for  the 
present  at  least,  beyond  human  power.  Yet  we 
cannot  believe  that  Christ's  prayer  is  to  remain 
unanswered  to  the  end.  What  man  cannot 
achieve,  God  can  bring  to  pass.  Ah!  my 
brothers,  let  us  trust  in  Him  and  be  patient. 
All  human  things  pass  away.  God  alone  and 
His  Religion  is  immutable.  Believers  may 
have  to  endure  persecution  yet;  and  persecu- 
tion, when  overruled  by  God,  is  able  to  purify 
what  is  corrupt,  and  make  age-long  misconcep- 
tions and  alienations  disappear.  We  might 
welcome  such  a  persecution,  and  in  the  power 
of  united  zeal  and  grace  take  the  gates  of 
heaven  by  storm. 

O  Lord  Jesus  Christ  Who  saidst  unto  Thy 
DISCIPLES,  Peace  I  leave  with  you,  My  peace 
I  give  unto  you;  regard  not  our  sins,  but 
THE  Faith  of  Thy  Church;  and  grant  her 

THAT  peace  and  UnITY  WHICH  IS  AGREEABLE  TO 

Thy  will.  Who  livest  and  reignest  God, 
forever  and  ever.     Amen. 


64  THE  HISTORICAL  POSITION  OF 


APPENDIX   I. 

I  give  a  brief  list  of  suitable  works  for  the 
benefit  of  those  who  wish  to  study  the  sub- 
jects treated  of  in  this  paper. 

THE    CHURCH. 

Hammond's  Christian  Church,  What  is  It?     Oxford, 
1894;   65  cents. 
Gore's  Mission  of  the  Church;  f  1.00. 
Palmer  on  the  Church  of  Christ;  2  vols.     London,  1839. 

THE    MINISTRY. 

Lightfoot  on  the  Christian  Ministry.  (In  the  "  Disser- 
tations on  the  Apostolic  Age,"  with  appendix.)  London, 
1893.     Pub.  separately.  New  York;  70  cents. 

Haddan's  Apostolical  Succession  in  the  Church  of 
England.     London,  1883. 

Gore's  Ministry  of  the  Christian  Church.  New  York, 
1889;  $3.00. 

"    THE    SACRAMENTS. 

Sadler's  Church  Doctrine  Bible  Truth.  New  York, 
1882;  50  cents. 

Sadler's  Second  Adam  and  the  New  Birth.  New  York, 
1869;  $1.25. 

Sadler's  One  Offering.     London,  1889;  75  cents. 

Prynne's  Truth  and  Reality  of  the  Eucharistic  Sacri- 
fice.    Longmans,  1894;  $1.25. 

Wilberforce's  Holy  Eucharist.    New  York,  1885;  $2.50. 


THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  65 


HISTOKICAL. 

Lane's  Illustrated  Notes  on  English  Church  History. 
New  York,  1887;  2  vols.,  40  cents  per  vol. 

Hore's  History  of  the  Church  of  England.  New  York, 
1893. 

Aubrey  Moore's  History  of  the  Reformation.  London, 
1890. 

Blunt's  History  of  the  English  Reformation. 

Wilberforce's  History  of  the  American  Church. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Ewer's  Catholicity,  Protestantism  and  Romanism.  New 
York;  $1.50. 

Ewer's  Failure  of  Protestantism.     New  York,  1869. 

Hammond's  Church  or  Chapel;  An  Eirenicon.  London. 

Hammond's  English  Nonconformity  and  Christ's  Chris- 
tianity.    London. 

Little's  Reasons  for  Being  a  Churchman.  Milwaukee^ 
1885;  $1.10. 

Forbes  on  The  Thirty-Nine  Articles.  Oxford,  1881; 
$3.00. 

Hall's  Theological  Outlines.     Milwaukee;  see  adv. 

Staley's  Catholic  Religion.     Oxford,  1894;   30  cents  up. 

Westcott's  Bible  in  the  Church.  London  and  New 
York;  $1.25. 

The  above  works  can  be  secured  through 
The  Youug  Churchman  Company,  Milwaukee, 
Wis. 


66  THE  HISTORICAL  POSITION  OF 


APPENDIX  11. 

Churchmen  need  not  be  disturbed  by  the 
results  of  Biblical  criticism,  however  unex- 
pected, for  the  strength  of  their  belief  in  the 
supernatural  and  plenary  inspiration  of  the 
Bible  depends — not  upon  the  dates  or  author- 
ships of  its  several  portions,  but — upon  the 
general  trustworthiness  of  the  religious  his- 
tory which  the  Scriptures  contain,  and  the 
success  with  which  they  can  be  employed  to 
irradiate  and  confirm  the  doctrines,  institu- 
tions and  practical  principles  of  the  religion 
historically  established  and  perpetuated  in  the 
world  by  God. 

APPENDIX  III. 

It  may  be  urged  that  the  question  at  issue 
is  —  not  what  view  of  the  Episcopate  this 
Church  stands  for,  but — whether  she  will,  for 
the  sake  of  Unity,  tolerate  other  and  less 
advanced  views  on  the  part  of  those  who  agree 
to  yield  obedience  to  the  Episcopate,  in  fact. 
The  proper  answer  to  this  question  is  clear. 
The  Church  does,  as  we  shall  show  later  on, 


THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  67 

tolerate  views  which  she  regards  as  imperfect, 
when  au  exercise  of  discipline  would  quench  a 
smoking  flax  and  do  more  harm  than  good. 
But  there  is  an  important  limitation  to  this. 
She  cannot  sanction  error;  and,  therefore, 
whatever  she  may  overlook  in  dealing  with 
individual  cases,  she  cannot  permit  error  offi- 
cially^ or  recognize  that  it  is  lawful  for  any 
one,  especially  for  one  who  seeks  entrance  to 
her  Ministry,  to  hold  views  inconsistent  with 
her  own  teaching.  The  Church  teaches  that 
her  Ministry  is  Divinely  instituted  and  pos- 
sesses exclusive  mission.  She  cannot  rightly, 
therefore,  enter  into  any  concordat  which  leaves 
the  parties  who  accept  it  free  to  enter  her 
Ministry  without  accepting  this,  her  teaching. 
Nor  can  she  rightly  acquiesce  in  any  form  of 
toleration  of  error  on  a  scale  so  extensive  as 
to  imperil  the  official  maintenance  of  her  mind 
on  the  questions  at  issue. 

APPENDIX   lY. 

It  is  said  that  Sacerdotalism  is  not  contained 
in  the  New  Testament,  and  that  Christian  Min- 
isters are  nowhere  called  Priests  in  the  Bible. 
We  hold,  on  the  contrary,  that  the  New  Testa- 


68  THE  HISTORICAL  POSITION  OF 

ment  is  full  of  Sacerdotalism,  and  that  the  ab- 
sence of  the  title  Priest,  as  applied  to  Christian 
Ministers,  can  be  accounted  for  without  taking 
non-sacerdotal  ground. 

The  Jewish  and  Christian  dispensations  over- 
lapped each  other  by  Divine  arrangement, 
apparently  in  order  that  the  unalterable  prin- 
ciples of  the  Old  dispensation  might  be  assim- 
ilated by  the  primitive  disciples  of  the  New, 
and  successfully  transplanted  to  the  Christian 
Church.  The  Christian  Church  was  conceived 
in  the  womb  of  Judaism.  The  New  Testament 
is  the  product  chiefly  of  the  period  of  over- 
lapping, when  the  Jewish  Christians  were 
obliged  to  obey  both  dispensations  at  once;  and 
we  read  that  "  a  great  company  of  the  [Jewish] 
Priests  were  obedient  to  the  Faith"  (Acts,  YL 
7).  To  have  applied  the  title  Priest  to  Chris- 
tian Ministers  under  such  conditions  would 
have  been  confusing  in  the  extreme.  But  that 
the  Christian  dispensation  was  to  be  a  sacer- 
dotal one  is  clearly  implied  in  vdiat  S.  Peter 
says  (I.  Pet.  II.  9),  "But  ye  are  a  chosen 
generation,  a  royal  priesthood,"  etc.,  and  in 
what  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews  (XIII.  10) 
says,    "We  have  an  altar,"  etc. 


THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  69 

We  have  been  insistiug  that  the  Christian 
dispensation  is  not  the  result  of  a  revolt  from 
Judaism  (if  it  were,  the  permanent  nature  of 
the  promises  to  Abraham  and  to  Jerusalem 
would  be  destroyed  and  the  Divine  immutabil- 
ity intrenched  upon),  but  an  effective  perform- 
ance and  continual  application  to  the  souls  of 
men  of  what  Judaism  merely  prefigured.  This 
contention  involves  that  the  Sacerdotalism, 
which  is  so  essential  a  part  of  the  Old  dispen- 
sation, should  not  be  abolished  in  the  Christian 
dispensation,  but  should  be  made  more  effective, 
and  modified  in  detail  merely,  to  meet  the  con- 
ditions resulting  from  the  death  of  Christ  and 
His  entrance  within  the  veil. 

When  the  time  drew  near  for  completing  the 
transition  from  the  Old  to  the  New,  by  the  de- 
struction of  Jerusalem,  the  author  of  the  epistle 
to  the  Hebrews  was  inspired  to  give  a  clear  ex- 
position of  the  eternal  Priesthood  of  Christ, 
ordained  of  God  (Chap.  Y.)  to  take  the  place 
of  the  merely  typical  priesthood  of  Aaron 
(Chap.  YIII).  Thus  the  New  Covenant  was 
clearly  shown  to  be  sacerdotal,  and,  by  reason 
of  its  effectiveness,  fitted  to  take  the  place  of 
what  was  ineffective  and  preparatory  merely. 


70  THE  IIISTOBIGAL  POSITIOK  OF 

The  new  Sacerdotalism  is  effective  because  it  is 
the  Sacerdotalism  of  Christ,  Who  has  over- 
come death,  and  entered  the  true  Holy  of 
Holies. 

Now,  and  this  is  a  crisis  in  our  argument, 
whatever  Christ  was  sent  forth  to  be  in  the 
world,  that  He  sent  forth  His  Apostolic  Ministry 
to  perpetuate  on  earth  in  His  Name.  "  All 
power  is  given  unto  Me  in  heaven  and  in 
earth"  (S.  Matt.  XXYIIL  18).  "  And  behold, 
I  send  the  promise  of  My  father  upon  you:  but 
tarry  ye  in  the  city  of  Jerusalem,  until  ye  be 
endued  with  power  from  on  high"  (S.  Luke 
XXIV.  49).  "As  My  Father  hath  sent  Me 
(cf.  Heb.  V.  4-6)  even  so  send  I  you.  And 
when  He  had  said  this.  He  breathed  on  them, 
and  saith  unto  them,  Receive  ye  the  Holy 
Ghost:  whosesoever  sins  ye  remit,  they  are  re- 
mitted unto  them ;  and  whosesoever  sins  ye  re- 
tain, they  are  retained"    (S.  John    XX.  21-23). 

In  view  of  all  this,  we  believe  that  the  thing 
signified  by  the  term  Priest  is  an  essential 
part  of  the  Christian  dispensation  as  portrayed 
in  the  New  Testament:  that  Christian  Minis- 
ters on  earth  are  Priests  by  participation  in 
Christ's   Priesthood:    that  their  priesthood  is 


THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  71 

not  persouallyiDherect  in  themselves,  but  min- 
isterial simply — i.  e.,  Christ's  Priesthood,  exer- 
cised by  a  Ministry  of  His  own  appointment: 
that  they  have  power  (although  official  and  not 
personal)  to  remit  sins — a  sacerdotal  power. 

The  overlapping  of  dispensations  made  it 
necessary  for  a  time  to  use  distinct  names ;  but 
when  Judaism  passed  away,  the  sacerdotal 
character  of  the  Christian  Ministry  stood  out  in 
bold  relief,  and  the  title  Priest,  as  applied  to  the 
offerer  of  the  Eucharistic  Sacrifice,  came  into 
inevitable  use. 


BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR. 


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